Universities are planning a huge increase in foreign students to boost their
income following swingeing Government funding cuts, it emerged yesterday.

Some top institutions want to almost double the number of undergraduates recruited from outside Europe.

Durham is planning a 97 per cent rise in international students and Exeter is proposing a 73 per cent increase across some colleges.

The Government currently controls the number of students universities can recruit from Britain and European Union member states because their tuition is subsidised by the taxpayer.

Fees are capped at £3,290 this academic year and universities face harsh fines for over-recruiting.

But institutions can admit unlimited numbers of foreign students who are charged up to eight times as much. The highest international fee this year is believed to be £26,250 which Imperial College charges to take some lab-based courses.

Universities are increasingly turning to foreign students as a lucrative source of income following deep cuts in direct state funding.

Last year, some 37,079 new undergraduates were recruited from outside Europe – a 12.4 per cent rise in just 12 months.

International fees made up just five per cent of university income in the late 90s but that figure doubled to 10 per cent by 2008/9, it was disclosed.

Although they do not necessarily take the place of Britons, there are fears that recruiting more students will inevitably lead to larger class sizes and a squeeze on facilities and accommodation.

Les Ebdon, chairman of Million Plus, which represents new universities, said: “Every [institution’s] strategic plan includes losses of money on home students and a massive increase in international students.

“If you prevent growth in one direction, it bursts out in another. There is clear cause and effect.”

Research by Times Higher Education magazine showed that a number of universities had already set clear targets to increase the number of foreign students recruited by 2014.

Minutes from a meeting of Durham University’s executive board show the university is planning a 97 per cent hike in students from outside Europe at a time when “full-time home student numbers were forecast to decrease marginally”.

A spokesman said: “Only nine per cent of our current undergraduate student population comes from non-EU countries and we aim to increase this to 16 per cent by 2015 to ensure that all of our students benefit from the diverse educational environment which produces global citizens.

“Increasing the number of international students is not at the expense of UK/EU enrolments. Regrettably the number of UK/EU students we can accept is capped by government.

“We receive far more highly qualified UK/EU applicants than Government allows us to admit and we would like a change in Government policy on this.”

Exeter said it wanted to recruit 4,000 non-European students within three years. It would require a 73 per cent increase across most departments, but excluding the business school.

A spokesman denied the move was prompted by Government funding cuts, adding: “Exeter’s recruitment plans are driven by diversity as much as volume.”